Movie Reviews

"As I wrote in my review on President Truman, President Roosevelt would be un-electable today. First, because he was the dreaded 'L' word--liberal, and proud of it.

Mr. Roosevelt's private life, combined with his physical handicap, would be picked apart and criticized by such as the 'fair and balanced' news commentators now. His manipulation of the American political system at the time would be roundly condemned today. Of course, it was what America needed at that time. President Roosevelt was the first chief executive in this country to believe, and practice, that the American government had a responsibility to its citizens beyond national defense. The scope of the work he envisioned for the American government is still breathtaking today. We know now that Mr. Roosevelt introduced the practice of Presidential domination in American politics. He provided leadership when so many countries drifted into dictatorship and inaction. We know now that the most valuable resource he provided America was hope and an optimism sadly lacking in today's bickering politicians.

And that voice! Patrician, seductive, and yet able to distill complex governmental policies into terms that the average American could understand. It is instructive to listen to President Roosevelt speak, then flip to Mr. Hitler.

There has been only one President as enigmatic in his personal dealings as Mr. Roosevelt in the last century: President Nixon. However, unlike Nixon, FDR genuinely liked people and enjoyed their company, all the while hiding his true feelings and intentions.

Not a perfect man, Mr. Roosevelt was indeed the man for the times, and how fortunate we were to have him as our leader for so many years.

To young people, who only see what we elect as Presidents now, this can be a fascinating view of one of our greats. The rich documentary footage brings this long-dead leader back for us. For that, we should be grateful and supportive of this series."

Americn Experience: FDR

Walter Arnstein | Cloverdale, CA United States | 05/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Never has a more meaningful and informative document on this great American president been assembled into one package. The 2-DVD recording probes the complexities of FDR's heritage, youth and personal ambitions -- as well as tragedies -- in a way that rounds out his presidency. It also explores the role of Eleanor far beyond her role as FDR's wife. His role in shaping our history even after his death is made crystal clear.

I believe the document is truly unique. Having lived through that era, I found nevertheless that there were countless aspects to the man and his works that I had simply not been aware of. I bought the package after seeing it played elsewhere. It was a bargain. I expect to see it many times again over the coming years."

Some extraordinary newsreels of Warm Springs, Georgia

Robert J. Scheppy | Zhu Hai, China | 03/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was very surprised to see the extraordinary newsreels of FDR in Warms Springs, Georgia using a wheel-chair and then swimming with young people who also had polio. On television, I had always seen the standard footage of FDR giving speeches. The film explains the great lengths FDR went through to improve his body control, so as not to be pitied or viewed as a cripple. After several years of tough times, FDR was ready to be president - as he knew he could be. Special thanks to Curtis Roosevelt, grandson, for his well-prepared remarks on the character of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt."

FDR And The New Deal- The Last Gasp The Last Time

Alfred Johnson | boston, ma | 12/06/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"

The economic news of the past several months has created a virtual cottage industry of commentators whose comparative references to the Great Depression of the 1930's has made it almost a commonplace. Also common are comparisons of the tasks that confronted the subject of this documentary, the 32nd President of The United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt (hereafter FDR), and those that confront the 2008 election victor the President-elect Barack Obama, who seemingly has that same kind of broad mandate as FDR did to make major economic moves. Thus, as is my habit, I went scurrying to find a suitable documentary that would refresh my memory about the decisive role that FDR played back then as the last gasp "savior" of the American capitalist economic system.

An added impetus to do that search was the recent passing of the legendary oral historian, Studs Terkel, whose bread and butter was to capture the memories of the generation that was most influenced by FDR's policies and whose oral histories have been the subject of many reviews of late by this writer. A biographic refresher on FDR thus seemed to be written in the stars. I found, for a quick overview of this subject, the perfect place to start is this American Experience four- part production on the life, loves, trials, tribulations and influence of this seminal American bourgeois politician.

That said, if one is looking for an in-depth analysis of the role that FDR played in saving the capitalist system in America in the 1930's, or the concurrent rise of the imperial presidency under his guidance, or the increased role of the federal government through its various executive agencies or the role of his "brain trust" (Rexford Tugwell, Harry Hopkins, Harold Ickles, etc.) in formulating policy then one should, and eventually must, look elsewhere. However, if one wants to capture visually the sense of the times and FDR's (and of his wife Eleanor's, who is worthy of separate series in her own right) influence on them then this is the right address.

As is almost universally the case with American Experience productions one gets a technically very competent piece of work that moreover gets a boost here from the always welcome grave narrative skills of David McCullough, who as a historian in his own right has a grasp of the sense of such things. Of course, as always with PBS you get more than the necessary share of "talking heads" commentators who give their take on the meaning of each signpost in the long FDR trail to the presidency and beyond. Of note here is the commentary of historian Doris Kearns Goodwin whose recent book on the Lincoln presidency "Team Of Rivals" has received much notice in the lead-up to the Obamiad.

And what are those signposts of FDR's life that might have given an inkling that he was up to the task of the times? Other than the question of class (in his case upper class, old New York money) FDR's appetite to be president is not an unfamiliar one, if somewhat unusual from someone of that New York set at the turn of the 20th century. Except for this little twist in FDR's case- when one's relative, if a distant one, was an idolized Teddy Roosevelt who was President as he entered into manhood. That, at least as presented in this film, is a key source of FDR's presidential "fire in the belly" drive.

The unfolding of the saga of FDR's "fire in the belly" ambitions takes up the first two parts of the series. Here we find out the early family history, the various schoolboy pursuits, the private schools, the obligatory Ivy League education (Harvard), the courtship of the sublime distant cousin (and Teddy favorite) Eleanor, his first stab at elective office in New York, his apprenticeship in Washington as Assistant Secretary of the Navy during the Wilson presidency, his little extramarital love affairs, his selection as Vice Presidential candidate in 1920, the seemingly political career-ending bout with polio and the fight against its physical restrictions, the successful efforts to hide this from the public, thereafter the successful return to politics as Governor of New York and, finally, the nomination and election as the 32nd President of The United States. Plenty of material for thought here.

But that is only prelude. FDR faced a capitalist system that had like today 'lost', although for different specific reasons, its moorings and was in need of deep repair (or overthrow). It is not unfair, I do not believe, to say as I have said in the headline of this entry that FDR's effort was the last gasp effort of capitalism to survive (although his fellow capitalists and their intellectual, political and media hangers-on shortsightedly called him a "traitor to his class"). The most glaring contrast in the whole documentary is that between an overwhelmed President Hoover's abject defeatism and FDR's strident confidence (a like comparison could be made, at least of the defeated presidential part, with the current Bush).

Although we now know that the ultimate way out of that Great Depression was World War II in 1933 FDR applied, piecemeal and as triage, a whole series of economic programs to jump start the system, most famously the National Recovery Act (NRA, later declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court). FDR's first two terms were basically a fight to find ways, virtually any ways to keep the economy moving and get people back to work. He was running out of time and the public's patience when the rumblings of WWII came on to the horizon in Europe.

The hard-bitten fight by FDR to get America into the European War against a public opinion that was essentially isolationist, mainly as a result of the WWI experience, takes up the last part of the series. The various efforts to surreptitiously aid England are highlighted here, including the various visits by and with British war time leader Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the fight to get America militarily mobilized including imposition of a military draft, the various conferences of the Big Three (the Soviet Union being the third) to carve up the post-war world and FDR's final illness round out the story. In our house when I was a kid the mere mention of the name FDR was said, by one and all, with some reverence for his efforts to pull America out of the Great Depression and for guiding it to victory in war. For a long time this writer has not had that youthful reverence but if you want to see why my parents and why I as a youth whispered that name with reverence watch here."

Necessarily incomplete but filled with fascinating film foot

Robert Moore | Chicago, IL USA | 02/23/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The America Experience on PBS has in fifteen years produced not one but two series on FDR, this one released in 1994 and a more recent one ine 2005. Until recently I had seen neither, despite being a pretty serious student of Roosevelt's presidency. My bookshelf devoted to FDR contains no less than twenty-five volumes, many of them quite thick. I also have many other volumes deeply relevant to the time, including books on the Great Depression and World War II. So it was quite a shock to me how much I gained by seeing this film. As far as events in Roosevelt's life and career go, I don't believe I learned a single new thing in the documentary. In fact, I was consistently conscious of how much was being left out, which was unavoidable given the relatively short length of the series.

What made the documentary so exciting was the extraordinary amount of footage detailing FDR's life. For instance, I knew that there were only two photographs showing FDR in his wheelchair and only four seconds of film footage showing him walking where you could tell he wasn't able to use his legs. All were used here. The most fascinating of all was footage from him playing in the pool at Warm Springs with some of the patients there. It reveals as no book can his sense of playfulness, his love for people, and his famous delight in having fun. Those few moments are all by themselves worth the effort of watching this. Reading all the biographies on Roosevelt as well as the various policy studies give a deep knowledge of the events or Roosevelt's three terms in office (he died only three months into his fourth), but the view they give of his charm and personality are necessarily dry and abstract. The film footage in this documentary is extraordinary at showing precisely why he was such an immensely popular president (he lived before the advent of scientific polling but one could make a solid case for his being the most popular president during his time in office since Washington - certainly no president since FDR has come anywhere close, though based on numbers Eisenhower, JFK, and Clinton are distant seconds, leaving out Obama simply because he has been president for too short a period of time to be considered). This documentary brings Roosevelt to life in a way that no book can.

I give this five stars simply because I felt that I took so much away from it. Newcomers to Roosevelt need to understand that a simply vast amount of information was left out, some of it controversial, some of it positive, some of it merely neutral. For instance, shockingly little is said about the major relationships in FDR's life apart from Eleanor, his mother, Louis Howe, Missy Lehand, and Lucy Mercer. There is no mention of the role of Jim Farley in his presidential campaigns, which was huge. I believe there was only one mention of Harry Hopkins in any way whatsoever, despite the fact that after the death of Louis Howe (itself completely unremarked upon) Hopkins because FDR's closest advisor and most effective lieutenant, even living in the White House for several years during the war. There was brief mention of how important that Missy Lehand was to Roosevelt, but my own feeling is that this was underplayed, and there was no mention of her debilitating stroke and eventual death. The deaths of Howe and Lehand, and Hopkins's moving out of the White House would seem to be crucial to explaining near the end of the documentary precisely why Franklin felt so lonely in the White House.

Even more surprising was the utter lack of mention of the key friendships in Eleanor's life, some of these deeply controversial. Many have speculated about her relationship with Lorena Hickok. I personally think the evidence that they were lovers is pretty thin. Her own children have speculated about the amorous nature of several of their father and mother's relationships. The fact that most believed that their mother was not comfortable with a physical relationship with anyone, male or female, and that sex was primarily a duty in order to produce children highlights just how unlikely it is that Eleanor might have had a lesbian lover. There is brief film footage of Eleanor's two friends with whom she shared Val-Kill, Nancy Cook and Marion Dickerman (who were lovers), so we do know that Eleanor wasn't off put by homosexual relationships (this was true of Franklin as well). But the most amazing lacunae in the film was the failure to mention Earl Miller at all. I've always felt (and some of her children did as well), that if Eleanor did have a lover in her life, it was Earl Miller. At the very least, he played the role in her life that Missy Lehand played in Franklin. Just as Missy was a constant and never-ceasing presence in his life until her stroke, so Earl Miller was a persistent presence in Eleanor's life the last several decades of their lives. They even got apartments beside each other in New York City. And they were constant companions even after his marriage (his wife citing Eleanor as one of the reasons she was asking for a divorce later). What makes the complete failure to mention Earl Miller is that he appears as the villain in the delightful home movie that appears in the documentary. He plays the role of the pirate who gags Eleanor and then carries her off, legs kicking all the while. Some writers on the Roosevelts prefer to downplay the relationship between Miller and Eleanor because it interferes with the preferred narrative of her (possibly romantic) relationships with women, but one wonders why this documentary failed to identify either.

Likewise, there are a host of policy issues that are either not mentioned at all or only referred to in passing. For instance, they briefly mention the "Roosevelt Recession," but do not remark that what caused it was FDR's sudden passion for balancing the budget and dramatically decreasing federal spending. It turned out that the economy was still too fragile for the government to cease priming the pumps. I mention this because many on the right recently have tried to argue that FDR was somehow or other responsible for the Great Depression. The facts make such an interpretation impossible, but unless you lay out the facts misunderstanding is possible. Once FDR realized that the main cause of the recession was decreased federal spending, the government pushed out some spending bills that helped correct the decline. The documentary also made is seem like there was no preparation for war at all prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, whereas Congress had been significantly increasing military spending for the previous two years. It wasn't enough, but compared to what it had been spending before, there were some efforts to create a standing army in response to what was happening in Europe. There was no mention of the FDIC, which FDR was personally opposed to but which became along with Social Security the most successful piece of New Deal legislation.

But the truth is, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidency was staggering both in its scope and its accomplishment. I honestly do not feel that any other president even remotely compares to him in terms of the breadth of his achievement. He is generally accounted as one of the three great American presidents, along with Lincoln and Washington. I have always personally felt that Washington was our most overrated president. He has one great achievement, that of making the president something less than an emperor. The more that I read about Washington, the less I find to either love or admire in him apart from that one great fact, though I do not want to trivialize that one achievement. Against Lincoln I have nothing to say. After Roosevelt, he is my favorite president. While FDR was faced with the second and third greatest crises in American history, Lincoln was faced with the greatest. And his moral leadership is unsurpassed. I think the reason that just about everyone doesn't rank Roosevelt as our greatest president is due to some of his failures: Lucy Mercer; the court packing scheme; cutting back in federal spending, resulting in the "Roosevelt Recession"; and his interpersonal aloofness. But all in all, no president in our nation's history did so much to remake the government, so much to help so many get back on their feet, and so much to save the world from tyranny. One of the most absurd claims making the circuit the past few years has been that Reagan "won the Cold War" (a claim that absolutely no one in Europe or the states forming the former Soviet Union believe or can even make sense of). But if there was one person who won WW II, it was Roosevelt. After the British armed forces had been forced to leave nearly their entire war materiel on the beaches of Dunkirk, Roosevelt helped, and within a few weeks their stocks of arms had been completely restocked. He then not only the dominant figure in leading the Allies to victory, but organized the industrial might of the United States to arm not only the United States and Britain, but the Soviet Union as well. And while Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin agreed on few things, both believed that Roosevelt was the key figure in engineering the Allied victory over the Axis.

This isn't quite the figure that arose in this documentary. But the story of this "traitor against his class" and his overcoming a debilitating illness to become arguably the dominant figure of the twentieth century is too complete for a single documentary. Nor, for that matter, even a handful of books. But if you know little about FDR, this is a decent place to start. And if you know a great deal, this is a great place to have what you already know fleshed out in exciting fashion.

Note: I do plan sometime in the next month to watch the 2005 American Experience production "FDR: A Presidency Revealed." I'll add some text here comparing that documentary with this earlier one."